Dor Peretz has been enjoying a fine start to the 2024/25 campaign as the midfielder scored three goals in nine appearances in all competitions this season. Against Maccabi Petah Tikva for what was Maccabi’s league curtain raiser, Peretz added two assists to take his tally to four on the way to a 3-0 convincing and clinical display.

“The first half was excellent. We were energetic, created loads of chances, too the lead and from there onwards it was easier” Peretz whose assists to Gabi Kanichowsky in the 31^st minute followed by another to Hisham Layous on 42 gave Maccabi a 2-0 lead at halftime. “We had a dip in form in the second half, but the first half showed the Maccabi we would all like to see. This is the beginning of the journey, there is plenty of room for improvement, so we are facing forward.”

After helping Maccabi reach the Europa League phase which this season will include eight matches. With Maccabi hosting its’ home matches abroad due to the situation in Israel, Peretz, acknowledged the demanding schedule ahead: “It will be challenging as there will be plenty of flights, we will be forced to recover quickly and prepare for matches in the best possible way. The league is our bread and butter, so we will have to prepare ourselves for every match in the league and in Europe.“

On the Europa League draw that will see Maccabi face the likes of Porto, Ajax, Besiktas, Real Sociedad, Sporting Braga, Bodo/Glimt, Midtjylland and RFS, Peretz added: “It is an amazing experience to be on this stage and play against such clubs. From here onwards it is in our hands to do our best we can. In one given game anything can happen. But let us take one thing at a time. Now we have the international break before us so we will have time to prepare ourselves for that.

 

Preview:

Having secured qualification to the inaugural Europa league phase, Maccabi turned their attention to the domestic league as they arrived at Hamoshava stadium for their MD2 match against Maccabi Petah Tikva. Following the postponement of the match against Hapoel Jerusalem, this match will open Maccabi’s 2024/25 league campaign.

For his league debut as Maccabi’s Head Coach, Zarko Lazetic, made several changes from the side that won convincingly in Serbia on Thursday.

Roi Mishpati kept his place in goal with Tyrese Asante and Raz Shlomo as the two central defenders in front of him. Sagiv Jehezkel and Ofir Davidzada were named as the two full-backs on the right and left respectively to complete Maccabi’s defensive line.

Issouf Sissokho was slotted into the anchorman role right behind Gabi Kanichowsky and Dor Peretz to form the midfield trio. Hisham Layous on one wing and Osher Davida on the other supplied the width with Eran Zahavi leading the line and the team out wearing the captain’s armband.

On the bench amongst the substitutes, Lazetic, named new signing Nemanja Stojic alongside Ofek Melika, Roy Revivo, Idan Nachmias, Dor Turgeman, Joris van Overeem, Elad Madmon, Henry Addo and Ido Shahar.

Prior to kickoff a minute of silence was observed in memory of the 6 hostages who were murdered in Gaza earlier this week.

First half

The team, were welcomed onto the pitch by a sea of color and a wall of noise as Maccabi’s fans turned up in numbers to create a home atmosphere.

Maccabi began the match with all guns blazing as in the third minute Hisham Layous was sent down the left before cutting the ball back from Eran Zahavi whose effort crept wide of the post. Less than a minute later, Zahavi sent Layous charging down the wing before his square ball picked Osher Davida at the far post.

The 23-year-old winger, flicked with his backheel and as the ball seemed to go in off the post but was cleared by Petah Tikva’s keeper Marco Wolf in what seemed like behind his goal-line. Yet referee Snir Levy and his assistant thought otherwise while VAR didn’t have a clear-cut visual to correct and award Davida the goal. Dor Peretz twisted inside the area and sent a powerful left foot drive that sailed wide of the target in the 10^th minute. Maccabi kept pinning the hosts inside their own half as Kanichowsky and Issouf Sissokho seemed to have chocked all their attempts to even cross the halfway line.

In the 14^th minute Maccabi had two glorious chances to score in a matter of seconds as Kanichowsky slid the ball to Peretz whose attempt to flick it over the advancing Wolf was blocked by the keeper. Zahavi then met Sagiv Jehezkel’s pinpoint cross with a header which found the keeper well positioned once again.

Kanichowsky (19) and Raz Shlomo (25) saw their efforts narrowly miss the target as Maccabi kept charging forward trying to carve an opening. Less than a minute later Wolf couldn’t hold onto Davida’s left foot curler but managed to recover in time with a double save before Zahavi could reach the rebound.

In the 31^st minute however Petah Tikva’s defense crumbled under Maccabi’s pressure as the deadlock was finally broken. Layous and Davida forced a mistake from the hosts’ defense in the corner of the area before the ball reached Kanichowsky. The diminutive midfielder cut inside exchanged passes with Peretz and with a low left foot shot found the bottom corner to score his first goal of the campaign.

In the 34^th minute Kanichowsky suffered a dead leg after being hit by a mistimed Tamir Glazer tackle. Maccabi doubled their lead on 42 as Davida dribbled into the box from the right leaving Yarden Cohen flat on his back. Davida’s cut-back found Peretz who miscued his attempt of a shot which fell to Layous who swept the ball home to score his debut Maccabi goal.

Two minutes after the goal Kanichowsky signaled to the bench he can’t continue as he was replaced by Ido Shahar.

Second Half

Petah Tikva’s coach Dan Roman made a double change at the restart in a bid to try and stop Maccabi’s total dominance. In the 56^th minute a mistake by Jehezkel gifted Luka Stor a great chance to cut the deficit but the Petah Tikva Slovenian forward sent his shot wide of Mishpati’s goal. Three minutes later Mishpati was beaten by a Liran Hazan shot from inside the area, but the ball rattled his crossbar before the danger was cleared.

In the 65^th minute Maccabi increased their lead as Shlomo rose high above Petah Tikva’s defense to head in Shahar’s corner and set the score on 3-0.

Zahavi and Layous both bowed out on 67 and were replaced by Henry Addo and Dor Turgeman. Idan Nachmias and Elad Madmon came on for Jehezkel and Peretz as Lazetic used all five of his substitutions in the 79^th minute.

Inside injury time Sissokho carved Petah Tikva’s defense to release Madmon who unleashed an unstoppable drop kick that hit the back of the net. But the young forward who scored his debut Maccabi goal against TSC will have to wait before opening his league account as the goal was disallowed for offside.  

Osher Davida experienced a busy summer as he was part of the Israel national Olympic team that competed in France before rejoining Maccabi’s European qualifying campaign.

The 23-year who scored once in the four qualifying matches he competed in said ahead of Maccabi’s league opener against Maccabi Petah Tikva: “We were busy in the past month in Europe which was an important task which we achieved and are delighted for. We had a little bit of time to celebrate but now our league campaign begins. We are preparing in the best possible way and I believe we will be as strong as ever against Maccabi Petah Tikva. We shouldn’t have any excuses as we have a big enough squad which is exactly what it is for – so that everyone would get to play. I am happy we are showing improvement from game to game and I hope we will continue to do so.”

As the opening match of the season against Hapoel Jerusalem was postponed due to the European campaign, Maccabi’s league opener will be against Maccabi Petah Tikva – the current Cup holders. Davida said of the side Maccabi played earlier this season in the Super Cup: “We know they are a tough opponent especially away, so we expect a tough match. Even when we played them in the Super Cup the match wasn’t over until we scored the second inside injury time. Last season as well they eliminated us out of the State Cup, so hopefully we’d be prepared to try win the match right from the start.”

On the dynamics in the team following the departure of some veteran players and the effect it had on the dressing room, the 23-year-old said: “We didn’t have just one leader above everyone else last season but had a few. There were several leaders and some are still here in Eran (Zahavi) Dor (Peretz), Nir (Bitton) and others. The atmosphere in the dressing room is amazing as it is fun to arrive every day and spend time with such teammates. We have a good connection between the youngsters and the experienced players which is an important component for a team.”

On the difference between life under Zarko Lazetic as opposed to Robbie Keane, Davida who joined Maccabi last season, added: “They are both attacking coaches as Maccabi Tel Aviv should always have. There is high pressure which the coach has been working on a lot and I hope we continue to improve. Last season we also applied to press high in most matches, so what is different? I can’t place my finger on one point. But at the same tim we are enjoying ourselves a lot as training are of a high tempo and I think this is something both coaches brought. The small difference is that we feel there is a little more demand from us as we all know that if we take our foot off the pedal we could find ourselves sitting out. Everyone wants to play and at the end of the day this is healthy for a team”

Maccabi will kickoff their 73^rd season in the top-flight since the State of Israel was established. Maccabi is the only side in Israel that were not relegated and played in the top division while Hapoel Tel Aviv are second with 70 seasons.

Maccabi’s record in 2,246 matches currently stands on 1,140 victories, 597 draws and 509 defeats with a total goal tally of 3,742-2,111.

Maccabi is the club that won the highest number of championships winning the league title 25 times. Maccabi Haifa are ranked second with 15 league titles.

In fact, Maccabi hold onto almost every possible league title:

The highest success rate per season in both eras:

2 points per victory (until the 1981/82 season):

An 89.6% success rate in the 1949/50 season.

3 points per victory (from the 1982/83 season):

An 82.4% success rate in the 2018/19 season.

In 2018/19 Maccabi won the league with a staggering 31 point-gap from the runners up spot – the highest in Israel’s history. The title was secured 8 matches before the end of the season which is also the earliest won.

A 13-0 win over Maccabi Rishon Lezion on 7/1/1950 – the highest victory in the league history.

A 20-match-long-winning streak recorded between July 1949 and October 1951.

The largest number of goals scored in one season: Maccabi scored 100 goals in 23 matches of the 1949/50 season averaging 4.3 goals per game.

Eran Zahavi scored the highest number of goals per season managing 35 league goals in the 2015/16 season.

The league’s top goal scorer emerged for Maccabi 16 times – more than any other Israeli club.

The longest stretch of a clean sheet was recorded by Daniel Tenenbaum in the 2019/20 season keeping his goal locked for 1,272 minutes without conceding.

The 2019/20 season also saw Maccabi keep the highest number of matches without conceding in 29 of 36.

573 players represented Maccabi in the league over the years with Miko Belo holding the appearance record with 498.

Avi Nimni is Maccabi’s all-time top goal-scorer with 174 while Eran Zahavi is ranked behind him with 138 league goals in Yellow and Blue.

18,769,000 fans attended Maccabi’s league matches averaging 8,550 fans per game.

Maccabi’s record on the opening day of the season since the State of Israel was established stands on: 39 victories, 15 draws, 18 defeats with a total goal tally of 139-82.

A 9-1 victory over Maccabi Rishon Lezion on the opening day of the 1951/52 season is Maccabi’s best start to a league campaign. Yosef ‘Yosale’ Merimovich scored six goals in that match which places him as Maccabi’s top scorer on the opening day of any season.

Maccabi scored twice inside injury time on the opening day of a season as both goals were scored by Sheran Yeini in 2008/09 and the 2009/10 campaigns.

Barak Yitzhaki scored Maccabi’s fastest goal on the opening day of the 2013/14 season. Yitzhaki got his name on the scoresheet after only 48 seconds away to Hapoel Acco.

Sunday’s match against Maccabi Petah Tikva will be the third time Maccabi kicks off their league campaign at Hamoshava stadium. A 3-0 victory away to Maccabi Petah Tikva in the 2014/15 season and a 2-0 victory over Sektzia Ness Ziona in the 2019/20 season resulted with Maccabi winning the league title.

This will be the 11^th time Maccabi begins their league campaign against Maccabi Petah Tikva – the season Maccabi began the season against more than any other club.

After 9 successive seasons in which Maccabi began their league campaign in August – the postponement of the MD1 home match against Hapoel Jerusalem will see Maccabi start the league in September for the first time since the 2014/15 championship winning season.

Ido Shahar scored the fifth and final goal as Maccabi thrashed TSC Backa Topola 5-1 on the way to an 8-1 aggregate victory in the Playoff that booked Maccabi a place in the inagural Europa League phase. “It is great joy, we are so excited especially under the new format it is just mad. We are over the moon for qualifying but obviously there is a long season ahead and we must continue doing everything in order to keep on winning matches.”

Shahar, who scored his first goal of the 2024/25 campaign but second career goal in Europe, added: “This goal is a small bonus but I am really hapoy the team won and we reached the Europa League. We will be happy with every team we receive as it is going to be an amazing experience. We will do our best to make our fans happy and give a few moments of joy, especially during such times our country is currently experiencing.”

Maccabi will visit the Amsterdam Arena where they face Dutch giants Ajax, travel to to Portugal’s League Cup winner Sporting Braga, a long journey to Norway for an encounter with local Champions Bodo/Glimt as well as Turkish side Besiktas.
Under the new format Maccabi will host four home matches against Portuguese Cup winner Porto, Spanish side Real Sociedad, Danish Champions Midtjylland and Latvian Champions RFS.

Maccabi is the only club left flying the Israeli flag in Europe as they will joined by 35 other club representing 22 countries. Holland and Turkey will be represented by 3 clubs each, Belgium, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden each has 2 clubs while Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Israel, Latvia, Norway, Romania, Scotland and Ukraine each have one club.

UEFA published the dates and kickoff times of Maccabi’s fixture list for the Europa league phase:

(Kickoff times in CET – Maccabi’s home venue will be published at a later stage).

Maccabi will begin their inaugural Europa league phase with a trip to Portugal where they face SC Braga on October 26^th. Two back-to-back home matches at a venue which will be published at a later stage will see Maccabi host Danish side FC Midtjylland on October 3^rd and Spain’s Real Sociedad on October 24^th.  Two away matches against Ajax at the Johan Cruyff Arena on November 7^th and Besiktas of Turkey on November 28^th. Maccabi then host FC RFC of Latvia on December 12^th before heading for Norway where they face Bodo/Glimt at the Aspmyra stadium in Bodo on January 23^rd. Maccabi’s will end the league phase with a home match as they host Portuguese giants FC Porto on January 30^th.   

Europa League phase fixtures:

MD1 September 26th: SC Braga vs Maccabi Tel Aviv (Estádio Municipal de Braga, 21:00)

MD2 October 3rd: Maccabi Tel Aviv vs FC Midtjylland (TBC, 18:45)

MD3 October 24th: Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Real Sociedad (TBC, 18:45)

MD4 November 7th: Ajax vs Maccabi Tel Aviv (Johan Crujff Arena, 21:00)

MD5 November 28th: Besiktas JK vs Maccabi Tel Aviv (Beşiktaş Stadium, 18:45)

MD6 December 12th: Maccabi Tel Aviv vs FC RFS (TBC, 21:00)

MD 7: January 23rd: Bodo/Glimt vs Maccabi Tel Aviv (Aspmyra stadion, Bodo 18:45)

MD 8: January 30th: Maccabi Tel Aviv vs FC Porto (TBC, 21:00)

The biggest change is to the group stage, which will become a single 36-team league phase. Each side faces eight different teams with four matches played at home while four away. The top eight overall advance directly to the round of 16; sides finishing from ninth to 24th will contest the knockout phase play-offs, with the winners advancing through to the last 16. From then on it is a straight knockout.

Maccabi were one of twelve clubs to qualify through the Play-offs as they were joined in the new league phase by 7 domestic Cup winners who qualified qualify automatically along with five other teams by virtue of their domestic league placing. Last season’s Conference League winners, Olympiacos, were also guaranteed a spot with an additional 11 clubs transferring from the Champions League.

The league phase matches will be played in accordance with the league system, whereby each club plays eight opponents in single-leg ties. Each club plays two teams from each pot, four home and four away matches.

 

LEAGUE PHASE DRAW

Pot 1

1. Roma (Italy)
2. Manchester United (England)
3. Porto (Portugal)
4. Ajax (Holland)
5. Rangers FC (Scotland)
6. Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)
7. Lazio (Italy)
8. Tottenham Hotspur (England)
9. SK Slavia Praha (Czech Republic)

Pot 2

10. Real Sociedad (Spain)
11. AZ Alkmaar (Holland)
12. Sporting Braga (Portugal)
13. Olympiacos (Greece)
14. Olympique Lyon (France)
15. PAOK (Greece)
16. Fenerbahçe (Turkey)
17. Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel)
18. Ferencváros (Hungary)

Pot 3

19. Qarabağ (Azerbaijan)
20. Galatasaray (Turkey)
21. Viktoria Plzeň (Czech Republic)
22. Bodø/Glimt (Norway)
23. Union Saint-Gilloise (Belgium)
24. Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)
25. Ludogorets (Bulgaria)
26. Midtjylland (Denmark)
27. Malmö (Sweden)

Pot 4

28. Athletic Club (Spain)
29. Hoffenheim (Germany)
30. Nice (France)
31. Anderlecht (Belgium)
32. Twente (Holland)
33. Beşiktaş (Turkey)
34. Fotbal Club FCSB (Romania)
35. RFS (Latvia)
36. Elfsborg (Sweden)

 

Draw procedure

Four bowls are prepared for the draw, one for each of the four draw pots. Each bowl comprises nine balls containing the names of the teams forming the pot.

The 2024/25 UEFA Europa League season concludes at Bilbao’s Estadio de San Mamés